Power consumption of electronic devices is becoming an increasingly important aspect of electronic design. Reducing power consumption of various electrical devices can result in cost savings, extension of battery life for portable devices, and address ecological and conservation concerns.
In the context of sensor based systems, various power management techniques are known as applied to microcontrollers, digital signal processors, and wireless communication systems as may be employed as part of a larger sensor system. These known power management techniques, however, are not applied to the sensor node itself. Sensors, for example, are required to be either “on” or “off” such that the sensor is able to detect the physical phenomenon for which the sensor is designed. For instance, a sensor configured to detect the presence of a person needs to be on to perform that function. Further power savings may be realized should power management techniques be able to be applied to the sensor as part of the larger power management scheme for a sensor network.